/ 



HISTORY /jr6 

^03 



or THE 



OLIVER, VASSALL AND ROYALL 

HOUSES IN DORCHESTER 

CAMBRIDGE AND 

MEDFORD 



BY 



ROBERT TRACY JACKSON, S. D. 



Reprinted from The Genealogical Magazine 
January, 1907, Vol. II, No. 1 



Boston, 1907 




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mSTOKV OF THi: oUVKK. VASSALL and I{(^VALL 

H« - IN IX)K('m>Ti:U.lAMiU{II)(;E 

AND MI:DH)KI). 

Ht HonuiT Thact Jackson, S. D. 

In A n ' mv frtrn'f thr Intr Mr. John UjcI i of Dor- 

clMntrr V •linfheTrfti nti of the 

M««hn •« III. huitoncal fact* were 

Kivrn lh*t it •- '. ftUvant y be pulthnhofl in a 

j»um , withiMiine adtiitioiui 

and •iiicitl a in sq iar tut thry tiral with the houtiofi am- 

• it tu Cite fallowinK paf^trs. Mr KirhartlMin waM ah 
' ' ' lie waa Iwrn in 

iWwtoii in t . ..-. unlil hiH death in 

iKsT.int' • I.. V j.ivcr or Kvcrctt house, 

at tl»«» ' I . i! r It wan rn«»n» rointnonly 

known a«thr"l i. .■ twa^ hrn* thai Ivl ward Kvrrrtt 

waa Itom in I7<M anii (ir«irf(r UirhanljHin, brother of John, hired 
and later pu 1 it of the K%-erett family. 

I Mould etprnM my warm thankn for aid in gathering; fact^t to 
Mrn I^irrnio Prouty, for accfwi to the diar>' and account b<M)k.H of 
Mr. (•euffce 1 Uon, running from IS19, for aonic twenty-five 

ye«nt ' »rly thanks are due to my friend Henry* M. Spel- 

man, i*iK^.. ul Camhridue. wl -ht in the Kegislry of Deedn for 

fact* in regard t4> t^ ' v of the I^twell lantis. 

The Ohver or l.>. :. u ii-uM* in Dorchenler in de}icril>od and 
.it.,.tr^((si quite fully in the notice of Mr. Uichar(hK)n, but here 

(3) 



4 Oliver, Vassall and lloyall Houses 

only historical data concerning it are given. This house, built by 
Robert Oliver in 1745, was an extremely interesting house in itself, 
but in addition, has a picturesque interest as the forerunner, or 
close associate, of several of our finest old Colonial mansions. 
Robert Oliver's son Thomas, doubtless built the Lowell house, 
and his son-in-law John Vassall built the Longfellow house in Cam- 
bridge. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Isaac Royall, occupied the splendid 
mansion of that name in Medford, and connections by marriage 
occupied most of the old houses known as "Tory Row" in Cam- 
bridge as described. 

Mr. James H. Stark of Dorchester worked out a careful history 
of the several owners and residents of the Everett House. Records 
from the Registry of Deeds are given in his paper, but as they are in 
print it does not seem necessary to repeat them. Further informa- 
tion was gathered from Paige, Oliver, Harris and other sources as 
noted. 

"About 1737, Robert Oliver, a wealthy planter from Antigua 

[West Indies], settled in Dorchester [William H. Whitmore 

cites records of purchases of land in Dorchester by Robert Oliver 
in 1738, and at later dates, and a petition by him in 1739 as a house 
owner to the town of Dorchester.] He brought a wife, Anne', and 
one son Thomas, who became later the last Lieutenant-Governor of 
the Province of Massachusetts. .... Robert bought a number of 
pieces of land [in Dorchester], of which 30 acres had been the prop- 
erty of Comfort Foster; and on this homestead lot, he built in 1745, 
a fine mansionwhich took the place of a more modest house. [PI. 
1] . . . . Tradition records that he brought many black slaves with 
him, and dwells with scornful pity upon the fact that they carried 
burdens on their heads in ignorance of the proper use of a Yankee 
wheelbarrow." (Stark). Three of his slaves, named Ann, Cam- 
bridge and Betty, are buried in the old North Cemetery in Dorches- 
ter. Trask comments on Oliver's slaves, and their method of 
working. 

The graves of these slaves are in the northwestern portion of the 
cemetery, near to what is now Columbia Road, formerly Boston St. 
Their positions are close together and are marked by three small 
slate head-stones. The epitaphs are worth recording as I believe 
they have not been previously published. 



Oliver, Paige, and other authorities usually spell the name Ann. 



Oliver^ Vassall and Royall Housts 5 

"ANN A NEGRO CHILD | BELONGING TO Mf | 
ROBERT OLIVER, & | DAUG' TO HIS 
NEGRO I NIMBO ; AGED 2.Y? | 

DIED June 1743. | " 

"CAMBRIDGE A NEGRO | BOY BELONG- 
ING TO I ROBERT Oliver Efq' | 

AGED 3 YEARS HE | DIED DECf 

Y* U'!' 1 1747" I 

"BETTY A NEGRO | SERVANT 
OF COL: I ROBERT OLIVER: | 
DIED FEB? Y« 19'^ 1748. AGED | 
ABOUT 25 YEARS."' I 

Robert Oliver, Esq., 2"*^ son of Colonel Richard Oliver of Antigua 
married at St. Johns, Antigua, 3 Feb. 1722, Ann Brown, daughter 
of James Brown of Antigua by Elizabeth his wife, which Elizabeth 
Brown, Widow married 2ndly in 1707, Isaac Royall of Antigua.* 
Robert and Ann Oliver had children, James baptized 19 Feb. 
1729-30 at St. Johns; Thomas born 5 Jan. 1733-4 at Antigua; 
Samuel, baptized 20 Jan. 1734-5 at St. Johns; Ann, baptized 22 
Oct. 1724 at St. Johns [James, Samuel and Ann probably all died 
young]; Isaac, born 20 September 1738; Elizabeth, born 13 October 
1741, and Richard, born 19th May 1744, the last three all in Dor- 
chester. Robert Oliver's wife died 20 December 1751, and he died 
16 December 1762 (dates from Oliver, vol.2, and Dorchester Births, 
Marriages and Deaths). The Boston Post-Boy for December 20, 
1762, has the following brief obituary. " Thursday morning last, 
died at his Seat in Dorchester, in the 63d Year of his Age, Col. 
Robert Oliver. A Gentleman of an extensive Acquaintance, re- 
markable for his Hospitality to All, was Kind to the Poor, and in 
his Military Character belov'd and esteem'd: his Family and Neigh- 
bors have met with a great Loss in this Bereavment. His Remains 
are to be interr'd Tomorrow at 3 o'clock in the Family Tomb at 
Dorchester." (Stark). 

1 Oliver, vol. 1, p. 76-77, vol. 2, p. 346-347. He gives records of both mar- 
riages from the Parish Register at St. John. In his book Mr. Oliver says that 
Robert Oliver was the third son of Colonel Richard Oliver of Antigua, but in a 
letter dated 5 April, 1905, Mr. Oliver wrote me that this was an error. It has 
been proveti, he writes, since his book was printed, that Robert Oliver was 
the second, not the third, son of Col. Richard Oliver of Antigua. 



6 Oliver f Vassull and Hoy nil Houses 

Thomas Oliver, son of Robert, graduated from Harvard College 
1753, taking the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Colonel John Vassall, Senior, of Cambridge in 1760 
(Paige, p. 619), Thomas's sister as stated marrying Colonel John 
Vassall the Second in the following year, thus making a double 
marriage between the two families. Thomas and Elizabeth 
Oliver had children, Ann, born 17 November 1763; Elizabeth, born 
12 July, 1766, in Dorchester (Dorchester Births, Marriages and 
Deaths); Penelope, baptized 2 October, 1768, in Cambridge, where 
in the records of Christs Church are recorded the baptisms of all 
three children (Harris, in the Vassalls of N. E.). There were also 
three other children, Mary, Lucy, and Frances. Thomas Oliver's 
wife Elizabeth died after he went to England and he married 3 June 
1781 at St. Johns, Antigua, Harriet, only child and heir of the Hon. 
Byam Freeman of Antigua. By his second wife he had Harriet 
Watkins and Emily Freeman. (Oliver, vol. 3, p. 346-347.) 

" Robert Oliver in his will gave his son Thomas, a suit of mourn- 
ing, a ring and twenty shillings, and no more, because Thomas's 
grandfather James Brown [father of Mrs. Robert Oliver, and first 
husband of Mrs. Isaac Royall] and his great-uncle Robert Oliver 
had already given him a greater estate than the father could." 
(Stark). 

Probably on account of close relations with the Vassall and other 
families resident in Cambridge, in 1766 Oliver moved to that town. 
"Thomas Oliver disposed of his property in Dorchester when he 
went to Cambridge. On July 1, 1766 .... he sold to Ebenezer 
and Lemuel Clap, about thirty-nine acres of land, reserving only 
the mansion-house and barn, and the land in front of it. This lot 
with the reservation covered almost precisely the original posses- 
sion of Comfort Foster .... We do not know who occupied the 
Oliver house for the next few years, but on 11 May, 1770, .... 
Thomas Oliver sold the house etc. with three and one half acres of 
land, for £250 to Richard Lechmere [of Cambridge] giving him also 
about half an acre on the south front .... [the "triangle," see 
later]. Richard Lechmere was the uncle by marriage of Oliver's 
wife, he having married Mary Phips, whose sister Elizabeth married 
Col. John Vassall." (Stark.) 

"We will now trace the house and land. Richard Lechmere 
sold them 15 January 1771, to Ezekial Lewis .... Lewis sold 



Oliver^ Vassall and Royall Houses 7 

them 4 April 1771 .... to John Vassall [brother-in-law of Thomas 
Oliver]. Vassall was a Royalist and a refugee, and was banished 
by act of the Legislature, his property being confiscated. On 
June 12, 1781, .... Richard Cranch, Samuel Henshaw and Samuel 
Barrett, a committee for such purposes, sold the property to John 

Williams [John Williams executors] on November 24, 1786, 

sold it to Bossinger Foster, .... Bossinger Foster sold it to Lucre- 
tia Callahan, November 2, 1787, .... John and Lucretia Callahan 
sold it to Oliver Everett, November 10, 1792." (Stark.) 

It is an interesting coincidence that one of the choice seedling 
peonies raised by Mr. John Richardson, more than a hundred years 
later on these grounds, is named Samuel Henshaw, in honor of the 
gentleman, the present Curator of the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology in Cambridge, who is the great-grandson of Samuel Hen- 
shaw mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The garden which 
is said to have been laid out by Thomas Oliver, was famous when in 
Mr. Richardson's possession for the many rare and choice flowers 
produced in it especially peonies. Richardson's seedling peonies 
ranking with the very best productions of their kind in the world. 
These are described in my paper in the Transactions of the Massa- 
chusetts Horticultural Society. 

"Rev. Oliver Everett died on November 19th, 1802. The fol- 
lowing spring his widow with her family removed to Boston, From 
this time, until it was sold by Edward Everett, no members of the 
family resided there, it being leased to various persons." (Stark.) 

George Richardson leased the house of Mrs. Everett first in the 
spring of 1819. "Edward Everett sold it to George Richardson 
November 10, 1833." (Stark). Mr. George Richardson's account 
book says 1 October, 1833, but Stark's date refers to the date when 
papers were officially recorded. John Richardson inherited the 
estate from his brother George in 1861, and on the death of John 
Richardson his executors sold the house and part of the estate to 
William Stanford Stevens "October 19, 1838" (Stark). The 
"triangle," a piece of land lying between Pond and Cottage Streets, 
which was originally part of the Oliver estate, was not purchased 
from the Everetts, but was purchased at auction by George Rich- 
ardson in 1841 . John Richardsonbequeathed " the triangle' ' to the 
city of Boston "to be used as a park or any other purpose except 
being sold for house lots." (John Richardson's will). On this 



8 Oliver^ Vassall and Roycdl Houses 

land now stands the historic Blake House, moved there for pres- 
ervation by the Dorchester Historical Society. 

"Thomas Oliver remained for several years in Dorchester after 
his father's death" (Stark), "until 1766, when he purchased an 
estate on Elmwood Avenue, near Mount Auburn [Cambridge], and 
erected the mansion afterwards the residence of Gov. GerFy, and 
. . . .James Russell Lowell." (Paige, p. 619). PI. 2. 

Drake (p. 318) questions whether Oliver built the Lowell house, 
as he says: "It has often been stated that this house was built by 
Colonel Thomas Oliver .... about 1760; but as the estate was 
only leased by him until the year 1770, when he acquired the title 
by purchase of the heirs of John Stratton, of Watertown, we do 
not give full credence to the assertion .... Moreover, in the con- 
veyance to Oliver the messuage itself is named." Oliver purchased 
a number of parcels of real estate in Cambridge, part of which are 
considered in the following. He purchased, 8 October 1766 (Mid- 
dlesex Deeds, Book 66, p. 375), of Christopher Grant thirty-eight 
acres in this vicinity, among which was a parcel of land with a 
dwelling house and barn, consisting of six acres, bounding easterly 
and southerly on the Great Road leading to Watertown [i. e. the 
corner of Elmwood Avenue and Mt. Auburn Street], westerly on 
land of Seth Hastings, and northerly on land of Joseph Palmer. 
[This parcel of six acres purchased of Grant, from its location and 
size, necessarily included the site of the Lowell house]. Oliver 
purchased, 31 March 1767 (Middlesex Deeds, Book 66 p. 624), of 
Joseph Palmer fifteen acres bounding easterly on the Great Road 
leading to Watertown [now Elmwood Avenue], southerly on land 
Thomas Oliver bought of Christopher Grant, westerly on land of 
Seth Hastings, and northerly on land of Samuel Thacher and 
George Ruggles. In 1770 (Middlesex Deeds, Book 70, p. 134) 
Oliver leased of the^widow, and in the same year purchased (Book 
71, p. 9, 11, 12) of the heirs of John Stratton' a certain messuage 
and parcel of land containing about seventeen acres, lying on the 
northerly side of the present Mt. Auburn Street, and extending to 



'John Stratton "married Mercy Norcross 3 May 1750." (Paige.) His 
widow later married Christopher Grant, from whom Oliver bought land in 
1766. Grant's name appears in both the deed of 1766, and the lease of 1770, 
in the deed in his own right, and in the lease as the husband of his wife, widow 
of Stratton, to whom the land had been assigned as dower. 







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Oliver y Vassall and Roy all Houses 9 

Fresh Pond. This is evidently the messuage and land referred to 
by Drake, but could not include the present Lowell house, which 
must stand on the land purchased of Grant in 1766. John Strat- 
ton's land was farther to the westward on Mt. Auburn Street; Seth 
Hastings's land of forty acres extending from Mt. Auburn Street to 
Fresh Pond, and immediately adjoining Oliver's land on the west, 
as recited in Grant's deed to Oliver. I find no evidence that Chris- 
topher Grant was a man of wealth, so that there is no great proba- 
bility of his having owned or built such a house. The Lowell 
house, while not resembling the Everett house closely, has a roof 
balustrade with flames, and in the interior finish has dadoes, wain- 
scoting and carved banisters which are very similar to those of the 
Everett house. If not a direct imitation, these similarities at 
least indicate a near period of construction to that of the Everett 
house, which Thomas's father built in 1745. It seems therefore 
that all the evidence favors the view that Thomas Oliver tore down 
the house standing on land purchased of Grant in 1766 and built 
the mansion now known as the Lowell house. In the deed from 
Grant, Thomas Oliver is described as of Dorchester, whereas in all 
subsequent deeds as of Cambridge. The details of Oliver's pur- 
chases gathered from the Registry of Deeds are facts kindly fur- 
nished me by Henry M. Spelman, Esq., of Cambridge. 

Continuing with the account of Thomas Oliver: "Being a man 
of fortune, he was not actively engaged in business; nor did he 
mingle in the stormy political contests of that eventful period, 
until, in a day fatal to his peace and quiet, he accepted the office 
of Lieutenant-governor of the Province [of Massachusetts], and 
President of a Council appointed by the King in a manner par- 
ticularly obnoxious to popular resentment. On the morning of 
2 Sept. 1774, a large number of Middlesex free-holders (Gov. 
Oliver says about four thousand) , assembled at Cambridge, and in- 
duced the recently appointed Mandamus Councillors to renounce 
their offices. The President of the Council was not spared; but, 
though he urgently requested delay, inasmucli as he could not 
with propriety renounce that office, while he held that of Lieut-gov., 
yet he finally yielded, and signed a solemn engagement ' as a man 
of honor and a Christian,' that he would 'never hereafter, upon 
any terms whatsoever, accept a seat at said Board, on the present 
novel and oppressive plan of government.' He left Cambridge 



10 Oliver ^ Vassall and Royall Houses 

immediately, and never returned. At the evacuation of Boston 
he accompanied the British forces, soon went to England, and d. 
at Bristol [England] 20 Nov. 1815, a. 82." (Paige, p. 619-620.) 
"Though he forfeited a large estate here, he was wealthy from his 
possessions in the West Indies; still owned by his descendants." 
(Stark.) "Lieutenant Governor Oliver was a quiet, reserved man, 
but little known in public life, though ever distinguished by his 
amiable and gentlemanly grace." (Harris, Vassalls of N. E., p. 
124.) 

Continuing the consideration of Thomas Oliver's house in Cam- 
bridge (PI. 2). "The house was one of a succession of spacious 
dwellings set in broad fields, bordering the Charles River, built in 
the eighteenth century, and occupied for the most part, before the 
War of Independence, by loyal merchants and officers of the Crown 
.... the owners of these estates left them, one by one, as they were 
forced out by the revolt of the province: but the name of Tory Row 
lingered about the group .... [Oliver's house in Cambridge after 
his leaving] with others in the neighborhood, was seized for public 
use. When the American army was posted in Cambridge it was 
uesd as a hospital for soldiers .... ["It being represented that the 
present hospital is not large enough to contain the sick, Lieut. -gov. 
Oliver's house is to be cleared for that purpose, and care to be 
takenthat noinjury isdonetoit." (Paige, p. 418). To this "care" 
we doubtless owe much for its good preservation]. Subsequently 
the estate was confiscated and sold by the Commonwealth .... 
The purchaser was Arthur Cabot, of Salem,* who later sold it to 
Elbridge Gerry, Governor of Massachusetts from 1810-1812, and 
Vice-President of the United States under Madison, from 4 March, 
1813, until his sudden death, 23 November, 1814 .... In 1818 
.... the homestead and some ten acres of land, was sold by 
Gerry's heirs to the Rev. Charles Lowell." (Scudder, p. 1, 2, 5, 
6.) His eminent and youngest son, James Russell Lowell was 
born there in 1819. Elmwood, as Lowell called it, was his life 
long, cherished home, and was immortalized by his pen. Capen 
recently published, in Country Life, some excellent photographic 
illustrations of Elmwood, both the house and surrounding grounds. 

Thomas and Elizabeth Oliver as stated married respectively a 

* Mr. Scudder says Arthur Cabot of Salem, but official records (Middlesex 
Deeds, liook 95, p. 338) say .\ndre\v Cabot of Beverly. 



Oliver, Vassall and Roy all Houses 11 

daughter and a son of Colonel John Vassall, and this association 
is of great interest. Colonel John Vassall, Senior, son of Major 
Leonard Vassall, was born in the West Indies 7 September 1713, 
and graduated from Harvard College 1732 [taking the degrees 
of A. B. and A. M.]. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Governor Spencer Phips, 10 October 1734; she died 22 
September 1739, and he married Lucy, only daughter of Jona- 
than Barron, of Chelmsford. His children were Ruth, born 14 
July 1737, who married Edward Davis of Boston; John, born 12 
June 1738, who married Elizabeth Oliver of Dorchester; Elizabeth 
born 12 September 1739, who married Thomas Oliver of Dorches- 
ter, 11 June 1760; Lucy born 15 November 1747, who married John 
Lavicourt of Antigua. Colonel John Vassall the father bought, 26 
July 1736, a house and seven acres of land at the westerly corner 
of Brattle and Ash Streets, Cambridge, which estate he sold 30 
December 1741 to his brother Henry, having probably, in the mean 
time, either erected or much enlarged the house. This house, 
which is still standing, is one of the fine old mansions of Cambridge, 
and is known as the Henry Vassall house, or the Governor Belcher 
house. Colonel John Vassall later, 17 January 1746, bought six 
and a half acres on the opposite side of Brattle Street on which the 
Longfellow house was later built by his son. He died 27 Novem- 
ber 1747 [and his tomb is a prominent feature in the old burying 
ground in Cambridge']. (Paige, p. 674-675). 

Henry Vassall, the brother of John, as noted above, "was born 
in the West Indies 25 December 1721, and married Penelope, the 
daughter of Isaac Royall, of Medford, 28 January 1742. (Paige, 
p. 675). As Mrs. Royall was the grandmother of Thomas Oliver 
her daughter who married Henry Vassall was consequently the 
aunt of Thomas Oliver and also half-sister to Thomas's mother 
Mrs. Robert Oliver of Dorchester. 

John Vassall, Second, the son of John Vassall, Senior, born in 
1738, graduated from Harvard College, 1757, ten years after his 
father's death and married Elizabeth the daughter of Robert 
Oliver and sister of Thomas Oliver, the 12 June 1761, and had 
John, born 7 May 1762; Spencer Thomas, born 7 April 1764; 
Thomas Oliver, born 12 April 1766; Elizabeth baptized 5 July 
1767; Robert Oliver, born 28 May 1769; Elizabeth, born 5 May 

' This tomb is figured by Freese (p. 9). 



12 Oliver y Vassall aiid Roy all Houses 

1771; Leonard, born 1773; and Mary, born in London 26 March 
1777. (Paige, p. 675.) 

John Vassall, Second, about the time he married Elizabeth 
OHver (Drake says about 1759) : On the estate originally inherited 
from his father and by subsequent purchases greatly enlarged 
erected the splendid mansion' (Harris'), which was known later 
as the Washington Headquarters and for many years the home- 
stead of Longfellow. Vassall abandoned it at the commence- 
ment of the Revolution and fled with his family to England where 
he died suddenly 2 October 1797. (Paige, p. 675.) 

After Mt. Vernon this house (PI. 3) is perhaps the best known 
house in America. A number of good exterior and interior views 
of the house and grounds have been recently published by Capen, 
and Holtzoper gives a fine plate of the main doorway. A most 
interesting account of the various occupants of the house is given 
by Drake, from which the following facts are taken. Colonel John 
Vassall, in 1775 became a refugee and retired to England. During 
the Revolution Colonel John Glover of Marblehead with his famous 
Marblehead regiment occupied the house as headquarters for a 
period, it then for eight months became the residence and head- 
quarters of Washington until April 1776. After the war it was 
occupied by Nathaniel Tracy of Newburyport, who was a brother 
of my great-grandmother. Then by Thomas Russell; Dr. Andrew 
Craigie; Jared Sparks, the historian; Edward Everett, while a pro- 
fessor in Harvard College; Willard; Phillips; and Worcester, the 
lexicographer. In 1837 the poet Longfellow became an inmate, 
with Mrs. Craigie for landlady, and it was thereafter his beloved 
home. Washington and Longfellow both occupied as their bed- 
chamber the southeast room, the right hand of the figure. From 
this room emanated thoughts of war and thoughts of peace that 
stirred a nation to its depths. 

Still another famous house is closely associated with the Olivers 
and therefore with the Everett house in Dorchester, namely the 
Isaac Royall house in Medford, PI. 3. Freese gives a delightful 
view of the house, taken in summer, and Holtzoper figures in detail 

' Drake says, p. 292, that the house was erected by John Vassall, whose 
tomb is in the Cambridge Cemetery, but this is an error as he dieii in 1747. 

* Harris, in his Vassalls of New England gives very full accounts of land 
purchases of the family. 



Plate 3. 




JOHN VASSALL, SECOND'S, HOUSE IN CAMBRIDGE: LATER OCCUPIED BY WASHINGTON, 
AND THE HOME OF THE POET LONGFELLOW. 




ISAAC ROYALL HOUSE IN MEDFORD. 



Oliver, Vassall and Royall Houses 13 

the doorways on the front and rear of the house. Mrs. Robert 
Oliver was a daughter of James Brown, of Antigua, her 
mother, Mrs. James Brown, after her husband's death married in 
1707 Isaac Royall,' a wealthy merchant of Antigua. According 
to Harris, Isaac Royall in 1732 purchased of the heirs of Lieutenant 
Governor Usher an estate in Charlestown (Medford) containing 
about five hundred acres; the house still standing, and widely 
known as the Royall Mansion was built by Usher. Although the 
conveyance was dated 1732, Harris says there is evidence that 
Royall did not occupy his Medford property until some years later. 
The interior of this house is perhaps the most beautifully orna- 
mented of any old house of its period in this vicinity. Sla.e 
quarters were built near the house and the grounds laid out in 
elegant taste with fruit trees, shrubbery, garden, etc. Isaac Royall 
died 7 June 1739, and his widow in 1747. According to Drake, she 
was interred from Colonel Oliver's house in Dorchester [Mrs. Oliver 
being her daughter], and is buried in the tomb with her husband 
in the old burying ground in that town. In the tomb are interred 
William Royall, of Maine, his son Isaac, Senior, the latter's wife, 
and other members of the family. 

Colonel Robert Oliver and his wife are also undoubtedly buried 
in the Royall tomb. It is definitely stated that he was buried 
in the "Family Tomb at Dorchester" and there is no Oliver 
tomb in this cemetery. 

The monument at the Royall tomb, in the old cemetery at 
Upham's Corner, Dorchester, consists of a horizontal slab of marble 
supported by five sandstone columns. The slab bears a coat of 
arms consisting of three sheaves of wheat enclosed in a scroll and 
the following inscriptions; parts of which are nearly effaced by 
weathering. 

' Isaac Royall, son of William, of North Yarmouth, Maine, and later Dor- 
chester, Mass., married 1 July 1697 in Boston, Elizabeth, widow of one Oliver, 
and daughter of Asaph Eliot. They had one child, Asaph that died in in- 
fancy. Harris in his account of the family cites this marriage and birth, but 
overlooked a second marriage. Oliver shows (vol, 1, p. 77; vol. 3, p. 56.) that 
Isaac Royall married secondly, Elizabeth, widow of James Brown, at Antigua, 
3 (? June) 1707, and quotes the Parish Register at St. Johns in proof. The 
fact that Isaac's second wife had the same given name as the first fostered the 
oversight. Isaac's second wife therefore was the mother of Isaac, Second ; and 
Penelope, who married Henry Vassall; not his first wife, as stated bv Harris. 



14 Oliver, Vassall and Royall Houses 

" Here lyeth * Body of Will" Royall | of North Yarmouth, in 
the Province | of Main, who departed this Life, | Nov'!' ^ 7th 1724 
in y 85th Year of his Age | this Stone is Erected, to * Pious Memory 
I of his Father, by his Eldeft Son Isaac. | as the last Act of a duti- 
ful! remembrance" | 

" Here lyes the Body | of the Hon"!* Isaac Royall Efq' | Who 
departed this Life at his Seat in CbarlCStOWU | June * V*" Anno 
Dom"' 1739 ^tatis 67. | He was a Gent" of Superior natural powers 
& great acquired knowledge | Civil affable courteous & Juft to all 
Men I Remarkably Dutifull to his Parents, Kind to his Relations 
& Charitable to I Poor. | He was a faithful Hufband a tender 
Father a Kind Mafter & a True Friend | Delighted in doing good. | 
He was a highly efteemed & refpected during hisrefidence at An- 
tigua which was near 40 Years ] and advanced to * moft Honour- 
able & important Publick employments Civil & Military | Which 
He difcharged with y higheft reputation & fidelity | He Returned 
with His Family to New England His Native Country | July 27 
1737 I Where His death which Soon followed was greatly Lamented 
by all who Knew Him | He Lived a Virtuous Life So He was re- 
moved by a peaceful! Death | Leaving a Son & Daughter | To 
inherit a plentiful! Fortune which He was Blefd with | And an 
exemplary Pattern for Their imitation | at His defire His Re- 
mains were here | Interred with His Parents | For whom He 
Erected this | Monument." | ' 

Isaac Royall the Second kept up his father's place in Medford 
and his daughters married respectively George Erving and Sir 
William Pepperell of Portsmouth. (Oliver.) He died in London, 
October 1781. His will was dated 26 May 1778. (Oliver, vol. 3, 
p. 56-57). Besides numerous bequests to relatives and friends, 
and public bequests for hospitals and schools, he left some eight 
hundred or nine hundred acres of land in the township of Grandby, 
formerly known as South Hadley, and nine hundred and seventy- 
eight acres in Worcester County, which he bought, in company with 
others, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on 28 Dec. 1752, to Har- 
vard College, for the endowment of a professorship of laws. This 
professorship, known as the Royall Professorship, was the first law 

' Oliver in publishing this epitaph makes several errors in the transcription 
and says that the second portion, or epitaph to Isaac, is on a separate tomb, 
but tliis is a mistake, tlie whole, as quoted, being on a single slab. 



Oliver^ VassaU and Roy all Houses 15 

professorship of that University. He also left to Harvard College 
a contingent interest in his estate at Medford and other towns. In 
a codicil dated 31 Dec. 1779, he made a bequest of two hundred 
acres in Royallston to Medford, for a free school, and a further be- 
quest of two hundred acres to Harvard College. 

In the library of the Harvard Law School is a portrait of Isaac 
Royall, Second — his wife, sister Penelope (who married Henry 
Vassall), wife's sister and child, painted in 1740, by Robert Feke, 
a Quaker of Newport. (Brown.) Isaac Royall being driven out 
by the Revolution, his house became headquarters for Generals 
Stark and Lee, and in 1810 passed into the possession of Jacob 
Tidd. (Drake.) 

Such an intimate association of old houses is remarkable, all in- 
teresting as choice examples of colonial architecture, the homes 
of prominent families in colonial times, and later full of historic 
interest as homes for longer or shorter periods of many of America's 
most illustrious men. 

To state the relation of families and houses in brief: Thomas 
Oliver's father built the Everett house; his grandmother Royall 
and her husband lived in the Royall house in Medford, Thomas 
Oliver doubtless built the Lowell house, and his brother in-law, 
John Vassall, built the Longfellow house. In addition Thomas 
Oliver's near of kin occupied most of the famous old houses in 
Cambridge known as "Tory Row." His aunt Penelope,' wife of 
Henry Vassall, lived in the Governor Belcher house; his wife's aunt 
Mary,* wife of Richard Lechmere, lived in the Riedesel house;' his 
wife's aunt Rebecca,' wife of Judge Joseph Lee, lived in the house 
which bears his name; his wife's aunt Susanna,* wife of Captain 
George Ruggles, lived in the house now known as the Fayerweather 
house; and his wife's aunt Anna,* wife of John Borland, lived in 
the Plympton house. 

' Penelope, daughter of Isaac Royall, Senior, of Medford, and half sister of 
Mrs. Robert Oliver of Dorchester. (Paige, p. 675.) 

' Mary and Rebecca, daughters of Lieut.-Gov. Spencer Phips, therefore 
sisters of Mrs. Jolin Vassall, Senior. (P.Tige, p. 627.) 

' In front of the original site of this house stand some superb European lin- 
dens, perhaps the oldest and finest specimens of their species in the country. 

* Susanna and Anna, daughters of Major Leonard Vassall and therefore 
sisters of Colonel Jolin Vassall, Senior. (Harris, p. 119.) 



16 Oliver, Vassal! and Roy all Houses 

This delightful association of old time Tory aristocrats is thus 
described by Baroness Riedesel in her letters. " Never had I 
chanced upon such an agreeable situation. Seven families, who 
were connected with each other, partly by the ties of relationship 
and partly by affection, had here farms, gardens, and magnificent 
houses, and not far off plantations of fruit. The owners of these 
were in the habit of daily meeting each other in the afternoons, 
now at the house of one, and now another, and making themselves 
merry with music and the dance — living in prosperity, united and 
happy, until, alas! this ruinous war severed them, andleft all their 
houses desolate, except two, the proprietors of which were also soon 
obliged to flee." (Paige, p. 168-9.) 

Fuller details in regard to these old houses and their interest- 
ing occupants are given in the authorities quoted and other local 
histories. Especially interesting and complete are the splendid 
three volume work on the history of Antigua by Oliver, the papers 
by Harris and Stark, and the very careful, painstaking History of 
Cambridge by Paige. Mr. J. W. Freese gives a brief account of 
these and other historic houses in near by towns, fully illustrated by 
excellent photographic reproductions. 



REFERENCES. 



Brown, William Garrott. List of portraits in the various buildings of 
Harvard University. Library of Harvard University, bibliographical 
contributions, 1898, pp. 52. 

Capen, Oliver Bronson. Country homes of famous Americans IX. Henry 
Wadsworth Longfellow. Country Life in America, Aug. 1904, vol. 6, no. 
4, p. 346-349, and 363, 8 illustrations. 

Capen, Oliver Bronson. Country homes of famous Americans XL James 
Russell Lowell. Country Life in America, Jan. 1905. vol. 7, no. 3, p. 
259-263, 9 illustrations. 

Drake, Samuel Adams. Historic fields and mansions of Middlesex. Boston, 
1874, pp. 14 and 442, illustrated. 

Freese, J. W. Historic houses and spots in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and 
near-by towns. Boston, 1898, pp. 8, and 144, 46 photographic illus- 
trations. 

Harris, Edward Doubleday. The Vassalls of New England. N. E. Hist. 
and Gen. Register, 1863, vol. 17, p. 56-61, and 113-128. [Besides the 
Vassalls, contains important facts about the Oliver and Royall families.] 

Harris, Edward Doubleday. The New England Royalls. N. E. Hist, and 
Gen. Register, 1885, vol. 39. p. 348-358. 



Oliver^ Vassall and Roy all Houses 17 

HoLTZOPER, E. C. Doors and doorways. Country Life in America, June 
1904, vol. 6, no. 2, p. 134-139 and 200-203, illustrated. [Illustrations of 
doorways of Longfellow house, p. 13G; Royall house, p. 136 and 139.] 

Jackson, Robert Tracy. John Richardson: his house and garden. Trans. 
Mass. Horticultural Society, for the year 1904, p. 159-202, pis. 1-14, figs. 
5-10. [It isfroni this paper that the presentone is for the most part extracted 
A much fuller account of the Robert Oliver (Everett) house is given than 
in this paper.] 

Oliver, Vere Langford. History of the Island of Antigua. London, 
1894-1899, 3 vols, folio, pp. in all 1379, many maps and other illustra- 
tions. [Very full accounts of the Oliver, Brown, Royall and other fam- 
ilies.] 

Paige, Lucius R. History of Cambridge, Mass., 1630-1877, with a genea- 
logical register. Boston, 1877, pp. 16, 732. [Oliver, p. 168, 418, 619-620; 
Vassall, p. 674-675; Royall, p. 619; Stratton, p. 666.] 

ScuDDER, Horace Elisha. James Russell Lowell, a biography. Cam- 
bridge, 1901, 2 vols. 

Stark, James H., [in]: Centennial anniversary of the birth of Edward Everett, 
celebrated by the Dorchester Historical Society, 11 April, 1894. Boston, 
1895, pp. 106, 1 plate. [Stark's article, p. 32-38. In "Appendix" of this 
publication, by William H. Whitmore (not signed), p. 73-106 are given 
records of a petition by, and sales of land to Robert Oliver and others.] 

Trask, W. B. Inscriptions from the old burial ground in Dorchester, Ms. 
N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register, 1852, vol. 6, p. 179-182 and 236-242. 
[Contains notes on Robert Oliver and his slaves]. 

Whitmore, William H. See Stark. 

Homes of .American authors. New York, 1857; pp. 8 and 366. [Everett 
house, figure and description, p. 217-218.] 

Dorchester births, marriages and deaths, to end of 1825. Boston, 1890, pp. 4 
and 392. 

The Dorchester book, illustrated. Boston, 1899, pp. 582, many cuts and 
plates. [Contains papers by Edward Everett Hale and others. The 
Everett house, p. 31-33, 1 fig., 1 plate, Blake house, p. 57.] 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 

Plate 1. The Robert Oliver (Everett) house, barn and fruit-house, in Dor- 
chester, southwest view, including the corner of Pond and Boston Streets. 
Taken in the autumn of 1887. Page 3. 

Plate 2. Thomas Oliver's house in Cambridge, later the residence of Elbridge 
Gerry and James Russell Lowell. Taken about 1890. Page 9. 

Plate 3. John Vassall the Second's house in Cambridge, later occupied by 
Washington, and the long time residence of the poet Longfellow. Taken 
in recent years. Page 12. 

The lower figure on same plate, is the house of Isaac Royall, Senior, in 
Medford. Taken in recent years. Page 13/ 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



OLIVER, VASSALL AND ROYALL 

HOUSES IN DORCHESTER 

CAMBRIDGE AND 

MEDFORD 



BY 



ROBERT TRACY JACKSON, S. D. 



Boston, 1907 



•09 



